Continuing disarray on the left ahead of the presidential election is a sorry spectacle
In better times, the French left used to draw inspiration from the old Popular Front phrase, “les lendemains qui chantent” (the tomorrows that sing). These days that kind of optimism – along with any sense of unity among progressives – is just a poignant memory.
With less than 100 days to go before the first round of the French presidential election, the jockeying for position among the flatlining candidates of the left has become a fractious sideshow, as the campaign continues to be dominated by the right. At the weekend, the Socialist former justice minister, Christiane Taubira, became the latest hopeful to formally throw her hat into the ring. She joins the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo – also a Socialist – France Unbowed’s veteran hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Green candidate, Yannick Jadot, and an assortment of fringe figures. None of the candidates has managed to break through the 10% barrier in polls and none has a chance of making it through to the second round of voting; yet all remain in the race, vying to take votes from each other. “Singing tomorrows” have given way to a cacophonous clashing of stubborn egos. The result is that the 30% or so of voters who identify as being on the broad left are being effectively disfranchised.
